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A Rooster on the Fire Escape

Upon coming to America the Celestin family was hoping to leave behind the traumas of the brutal dictatorship of their tropical native land, but what they traded for their freedom summons a dark spiral from which they might not recover. A story spanning 12 years about family love and sacrifice, exploring politics in Haiti, immigrant status in America, and the fissures that personal secrets can cause to the fabric that holds it all together.

StatementI wanted to evoke a close-knit family of strangers, the repercussion of secrets, trauma and displacement, contrasted with the children's joy and confusion as they re-invent themselves in a new place, in a new language. These parallel atmospheres collide and coexist, silence and whispers are interrupted by the soundscape of New York, the crowing of rooster, but also a soundtrack composed of disco, R&B of the 70s, Haitian compas, Latin-American boleros and French pop. I intend to create a rich and textured cinemascape that is rarely inhabited by people of color with nuanced characters and not archetypes, characters that are foreign and yet feel achingly familiar. The characters are gleaned from various people I knew growing up in Haiti and the United States. I intend to make a film inspired by reality but with the freedom to distort it to give it new meaning and resonance.Guetty FELIN